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September 13, 2017

Book Review: Configured by Jenetta Penner

Dystopian novels have become something of a guilty pleasure for me. It doesn't help that Amazon keeps recommending more and more books with dystopian themes. I've finally gotten to the point where I think I've read it all. Yep. Which brings me to the review:

In a future society, emotions are forbidden. The people are separated into three tiers of society based on their intellect. The book follows Avlyn as she moves out of her parent's home, is assigned a career, and encouraged to pair with a spouse and start making babies. It's an awful lot for a seventeen-year-old who isn't supposed to express any emotion.

Avlyn starts having visions of her (presumably) dead twin brother because... reasons? It's never really explained other than perhaps a psychotic break after repressing all of her feeling her entire life. But, this puts her in the perfect headspace to join Affinity, a group of rebels, as they try to squelch the government's evil plans.

I have to give it to Configured; there is an excellent amount of action in this book, all of which propels the story forward. This was what really kept me reading because the characters—especially their relationships with each other—were pretty meh. Without emotions, people don't really have feelings for one another. Avlyn goes from being fridged cold to just less cold. She pines for one guy in particular, but they can't be together for a flimsy reason. Affinity assigns her to pursue a spouse pairing with another man (which in no way helps advance their directives), which leads to the most unexciting, tension-void love triangle I've ever read.

This may just be me, but I'm really tired of protagonists who have a special super-human ability. I like reading about women who can kick butt without having any super powers.

In all, the super cool setting, fast plot, and full tilt action made Configured a great read. If you like sci-fi, computer hackers, or coming-of-age stories, definitely give Configured a shot.